Most USB mice work as soon as you plug them into your Mac—even two-button, scroll-wheel mice. Using System Preferences, you can program your spare mouse buttons to invoke cool features like Exposé and the Dashboard.

That’s not to say, however, that you shouldn’t install your mouse’s driver software. If your mouse came with such software (or if you find it on the manufacturer’s Web site), you may well find that your mouse learns a few new tricks—making its “back” and “forward” buttons work properly in Safari, for example. Otherwise, a shareware program like USB Overdrive ($20, from www.usboverdrive.com) can unlock those features. (For more on Mac mice, see Logging Out, Shutting Down.)